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Beating A Dead Horse (album)
| Genre = Comedy, parody | Length = 54:32 | Label = Self-released | Producer = Johnny Franck, Joey Sturgis, Drewsif Stalin, Luke Oxendale | Last album = | This album = Beating a Dead Horse (2015) | Next album = | Misc = }} Beating a Dead Horse is the debut studio album by YouTube comedian Jarrod Alonge, self-released on May 26, 2015. The album features seven different fictitious bands created by Alonge that satirize the tropes and aspects of various genres within alternative music, including metalcore, post-hardcore, pop punk, emo, progressive metal, hardcore punk, and others. The album was a critical and commercial success, reaching number 1 on the Billboard Top Comedy Albums chart and number 18 on the Top Heatseekers chart. Background Alonge announced plans to record the album on September 26, 2014, and launched an Indiegogo campaign with an initial goal of raising $12,000. He released several promotional videos throughout October, including mock interviews with the fictitious bands that would be featured on the album. His goal was reached by January 2015, ultimately raising over $18,000, allowing for more songs to be recorded than he had initially anticipated. On April 5, 2015, Alonge released an official trailer for the album, revealing a 15-song tracklist, and several samples of the album's songs. The following month, the list of guest vocalists that would be featured on the album was announced, including Mattie Montgomery of For Today, Johnny Franck, formerly of Attack Attack! (who also would produce the album), and Mike Semesky, formerly of Intervals. Alonge also announced that the album would be mastered by Joey Sturgis, a well-known metalcore producer that had worked with many bands, such as Asking Alexandria, The Devil Wears Prada, I See Stars, and Of Mice & Men. The first track to be revealed off of the album, "Hey Jarrod, What's That Song Again?" was released on May 12, 2015 with an accompanying lyric video. Five more of the album's songs were released in the following weeks with lyric videos, before the album was officially released on May 26. Alonge continued to promote the album after its release, releasing a music video for the album's first single, "The Swimmer" on May 27, 2015. Another promotional video was released for "Save My Life" on August 11. A third video for "Inconceivable Somatic Defecation" was released on August 26. Bands Amidst the Grave's Demons Amidst the Grave's Demons is a fictitious metalcore band from Columbus, Ohio, parodying bands such as Memphis May Fire, We Came as Romans, The Color Morale, and Of Mice & Men, among many others. The band performs five of the album's tracks: "The Swimmer", "Save My Life", "Misogyneric", "I'm So Scene 2.0", and "Hey Jarrod, What's That Song Again?". The majority of the vocals for the band were performed by Mike Martenson of the band Boys of Fall. He screams on all of Amidst the Grave's Demons' songs, and sings on all of them aside from "Misogyneric" and "I'm So Scene 2.0". Johnny Franck (formerly of Attack Attack!) performs clean vocals on "I'm So Scene 2.0", and Mattie Montgomery of For Today performs some vocals on "Misogyneric." Amidst the Grave's Demons was the first band to be created by Jarrod Alonge, and one of the two bands to release original music before the album's conception (the other being Sunrise Skater Kids). The band was first mentioned in July 2013 in Jarrod Alonge's "Every Metalcore Vocalist" video, before releasing two songs in late 2013 and 2014: a demo version of "I'm So Scene" and a 10-hour breakdown loop titled "Eternity". Sunrise Skater Kids Sunrise Skater Kids from Baltimore, Maryland was the second fictitious band created by Alonge, and performs the pop punk songs on the album, parodying bands such as All Time Low, Neck Deep, and Chunk! No, Captain Chunk!. The band performs four of the album's songs: "Love Me Back", "Take it Easycore", "Pop Punk Pizza Party", and "Goodbye Baltimore". The vocals for the band were primarily performed by Varrick Jay, although the unclean vocals in "Take it Easycore" were performed by Mike Martenson. "Love Me Back" features guest vocals by Cody Carson of the band Set It Off, as well as a guitar solo by Steve Terryberry, a YouTube comedian and musician. Lastly, "Pop Punk Pizza Party" features vocals by Dave Days, a YouTuber. The band was created in August 2013 and was referenced in Alonge's "Every Pop Punk Vocalist" video. Sunrise Skater Kids released one song shortly prior to the album's conception: a demo version of "Pop Punk Pizza Party" featuring vocals by Patty Walters of the band As It Is. Chewed Up Chewed Up (from Boston, Massachusetts) is the third fictitious band to be featured on the album, and represents the melodic hardcore and hardcore punk genres. The band has two songs featured on the album: "Unbreakable" and "Bite the Curb". David Thompson performed the vocals on both of Chewed Up's tracks. Sam Fassler performed additional vocals on "Unbreakable." Although Chewed Up didn't release any original music prior to the album, they were created and referenced in Alonge's "Every Hardcore Vocalist" video in late 2013. Vermicide Violence Vermicide Violence is a fictitious band from Los Angeles, California, and represents the deathcore and technical death metal genres. They are a parody of bands such as Job for a Cowboy, Winds of Plague, Cannibal Corpse, and Suicide Silence. The band's name is a reference to the deathcore band Suicide Silence. According to the band's Rock Sound Artist Profile, Vermicide Violence is composed of vocalist Jarrod Alonge and guitarist Brenden Worthington (the band's other members were not named). According to Worthington, Alonge replaced the band's original vocalist, who is hinted at being deceased (in reference to the late Mitch Lucker), but had actually been kicked out of the band for failure to be on time for band practice. The band claimed to have toured with Infant Annihilator, Winds of Plague, Chelsea Grin, and Emmure. The band only has one song featured on the album: "Inconceivable Somatic Defecation." The vocals on the song were performed by Jared Dines, the vocalist for Dissimulator, as well a YouTube comedian and musician. Canadian Softball Canadian Softball is a fictitious emo band from Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The band's style parodies the wave of emo bands that came around in the early 2000s such as American Football. Alonge stated that the band's name came from an amalgamation of American Football and Modern Baseball. According to the band's Rock Sound Artist Profile, the band is composed of vocalist and guitarist Jarrod Alonge, bassist Will Greene, and drummer/backing vocalist Andy Conway. The band's genre was referred to as "indie math rock," and was formed in 2004. The band's influences include Sunny Day Real Estate, Mineral, The Promise Ring, American Football, Pedro the Lion, The Get Up Kids, Jimmy Eat World, and Braid. The band had one song on the album: "The Distance Between You and Me is Longer Than the Title of this Song". The vocals on the song were provided by Alonge. Rectangles Rectangles is a fictitious band from the United Kingdom that focuses on styles of progressive metal and djent. The band's name comes from the trend amongst progressive metalcore bands in which the band names consist of only plural nouns, such as Structures and Volumes. According to the band's Rock Sound Artist Profile, the band is composed of vocalist Jarrod Alonge and guitarist Drewsif Stalin. Stalin mentions and praises the band's new drummer, "Mac," before Alonge reveals that their drummer is actually a computer. They were formed in Winter 2009, originally using the name "Triangles." Alonge stated that the band's name was changed to Rectangles in 2010 as "there was another side to the band." The band's only song "Cosmic Metaphysical Verisimilitude" featured vocals by Drewsif Stalin, who also produced the song. The song also featured guest vocals by Mike Semesky, formerly of Intervals. $wagCh0de The seventh and final fictitious band to be featured on the album is $wagCh0de, a crunkcore band from Albuquerque, New Mexico. The band is a parody of generally poorly received crunkcore bands such as Brokencyde and Blood on the Dance Floor. According to the band's Rock Sound Artist Profile, the band is composed of vocalist Jarrod Alonge (under the alias "Threev3") and programmer "FØuR." Threev3 claims that the band's influences include T.I., T-Pain, Ice-T, and Taylor Swift. He also acknowledges the negative reception directed towards the band, as well as pedophilia accusations in reference to Blood on the Dance Floor vocalist Dahvie Vanity. The band is accompanied by "concerned parent" Peter Li who disapproves of the band's music. Alonge performed the lead vocals on $wagCh0de's only song "2 Freaky 4 da Club", accompanied by Brenden Worthington who performed the backing screams. Music and Lyrics Beating a Dead Horse is primarily a comedy album, with each song parodying common themes found in various alternative genres. The album's songs are "performed" by seven different fictitious bands: "Amidst the Grave's Demons", "Sunrise Skater Kids", "Chewed Up", "Vermicide Violence", "Canadian Softball", "Rectangles", and "$wagCh0de", with the bands' appearances and personalities reflecting stereotypes found within their particular genres. Tracks 1-7 The album's first track, "The Swimmer" by Amidst the Grave's Demons mimics the style of metalcore band Memphis May Fire, with the song's title, lyrics, and music video being a parody of "The Sinner". The song also features a southern metal section at the end of the song, referencing the style Memphis May Fire had on their debut album, Sleepwalking. A music video for "The Swimmer" was released on May 27. "Love Me Back" by Sunrise Skater Kids is an upbeat pop punk song that parodies the obsessive, love-centered lyrics found within many songs of this style. "Unbreakable" by Chewed Up is a melodic hardcore song that parodies The Ghost Inside, with melodramatic and fervent lyrics. "Save My Life" by Amidst the Grave's Demons mimics the uplifting, hopeful lyrics of bands such as We Came as Romans and The Color Morale (dubbed "hopecore" in many online communities), but does so with a narcissistic tone. A music video for "Save My Life" was released on August 11, and parodied the video for "Suicide;Stigma" by The Color Morale. It was filmed at Warped Tour and featured guest appearances by multiple bands, including We Came as Romans, August Burns Red, Blessthefall, and PVRIS. "Inconceivable Somatic Defecation" by Vermicide Violence (the band's name being a play on deathcore band Suicide Silence) parodies the violent and grotesque lyrics of deathcore and technical death metal bands such as Infant Annihilator and Cattle Decapitation. A music video for the song was released on Jared Dines' channel on August 26, 2015, acting as a parody of the music video for "Forced Gender Reassignment" by Cattle Decapitation. The sixth track, "Take it Easycore" by Sunrise Skater Kids, as its title suggests, is a parody of "easycore", a style that combines pop punk with the breakdowns and screaming typically found in metalcore. The song's friendship-oriented lyrics reference "In Friends We Trust" by French band Chunk! No, Captain Chunk!. "Bite the Curb" by Chewed Up is a fast-paced hardcore punk song that satirizes bands that poorly attempt to have threatening and intimidating lyrics. Tracks 8-15 "Misogyneric" by Amidst the Grave's Demons mimics themes of betrayal found in many metalcore songs, and condescends to them by incorporating various internet memes into the lyrics. "Pop Punk Pizza Party" by Sunrise Skater Kids satirizes the glorification of friendship (as well as pizza) among many fans of pop punk. A demo version of the song was released in mid-2014, and it was professionally re-recorded for the album. The tenth track "The Distance Between You and Me is Longer Than the Title of This Song" by Canadian Softball is a parody of midwestern emo bands in the early 2000s, such as American Football. The song's lyrics mock the melancholy, lovesick lyrics of many bands of this style, and the song's title is a parody of the lengthy titles used by many emo bands. The end of the song also quotes several nonsensical tweets made by actor Jaden Smith that received viral attention online. "I'm So Scene 2.0" by Amidst the Grave's Demons is a parody of "scene" electronicore bands such as Attack Attack! and Abandon All Ships, and features frequent breakdowns, heavy use of synthesizers, and autotuned clean vocals. "I'm So Scene" was officially the first song written that would be featured on the album; a demo version was released in late 2013. The re-recorded version of the song had an additional bridge and electronic interlude. "Cosmic Metaphysical Verisimilitude" by Rectangles is a parody of djent-influenced bands, featuring unusual time signatures, unconventional song structure (with no discernible choruses or verses) off-beat guitar riffs, and lyrics consisting of complex, yet nonsensical mathematical and scientific jargon. "2 Freaky 4 da Club" by $wagCh0de satirizes the critically panned crunkcore group Brokencyde, with lyrics that contrast the themes typically found in bands of this style (for example, the lyrics promote drinking responsibly and abstaining from smoking). "Hey Jarrod, What's That Song Again?" by Amidst the Grave's Demons is a medley consisting of snippets of twenty-two different metalcore and post-hardcore songs, with lyrics focusing on plagiarism. The final track "Goodbye Baltimore" by Sunrise Skater Kids is a pop punk-influenced acoustic rock song that describes the singer's desire to leave his band and focus on playing the flute. Reception Beating a Dead Horse received critical acclaim. Critics as well as fans of the genres parodied on the album lauded the album, praising the album's witty humor, as well as the high musical quality of the songs, many considering the songs to sound as good as the bands they were parodying. Critics noted how the album wasn't a hostile attack on the genres and bands that were satirized, but rather an album that fans of the parodied genres could laugh at and enjoy. Track listing Personnel *Jarrod Alonge - vocals on Tracks 10 and 13, recorder on Track 15, songwriting *Mike Martenson - lead vocals on Tracks 1, 4, 8, and 14, unclean vocals on Tracks 6 and 11 *Varrick Jay - lead vocals on Tracks 2, 9, and 15, clean vocals on Track 6 *Steve Terryberry - guitar solo on Track 2 *David Thompson - vocals on Tracks 3 and 7 *Sam Fassler - vocals on Track 3 *Jared Dines - vocals on Track 5 *Brenden Worthington - backing screams on Track 13 *Joseph Mitra - songwriting on Track 7 *Jamie Phillips - songwriting on Track 10 *Johnny Franck - production on all tracks except 5, 12, and 15, clean vocals on Track 11 *Joey Sturgis - mastering on all tracks except 10, 13, and 15 *Drewsif Stalin - production on Tracks 5 and 12, vocals on Track 12 *Luke Oxendale - production on Track 15 *Sarah Schmidt - artwork Who actually performed the drums, guitars, and bass? The world may never know Chart Performance References Category:2015 albums Category:Comedy albums